The Kutafya Tower

This rather squat tower (its height on the outer side is just 13.5 meters), was built in 1516 by Aliosio de Carcano, in order to defend the bridges to the Kremlin. It is the only bridgehead watchtower to survive to the present day, and was previously surrounded by a moat and a river. In times of enemy attack, the gates were tightly shut, and the tower became a formidable obstacle to those besieging the citadel. In the 16th and 17th centuries the water level of the Neglinnaya River was high enough that water surrounded the tower on all sides, thanks to a system of dikes. It is said that the tower got its name from its heavy, ponderous form: the word "kutafya" in Russian once meant "ugly, clumsy woman". In 1668 a causeway leading through the tower to the Troitskaya Bridge was built. The building was thoroughly restored in the 1970s.